Songwriting at 3AM
by ChronicCombustion
Summary: A series of melodies: some are beautiful and others we would like to forget, but each one a story that deserves to be told. (Vocaloid drabbles from my 3am Writing Challenge on tumblr. Some related, some not.) Various pairings. POV, genre, and ratings will vary.
1. The Closet

In order to get myself back into writing, I came up with The 3am Challenge challenge over on tumblr. It's a daily writing challenge that takes randomly selected prompts from Brian Kiteley's _The 3AM Epiphany,_ which are then set to whatever song shows up on my mp3 player first in order to set the tone for the scene. All The filled prompts span a bunch of my favorite fandoms, so in order to keep them all together I've made them all into the 3am Series. They're all in my profile, but if you want a better system of organization for the series as a whole, I highly recommend checking them out over on my Ao3 account _~  
_ (Full descriptions of the actual book prompts are listed on my tumblr under the tag, '3am-challenge.')

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or any of the characters/representations/songs in association.

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3am Challenge Day 12  
Prompt: #23 - The Closet (500 words)  
Song: Umetora - Koshitantan (96Neko cover)

Characters: Kaito, Gakupo, VY2 Yuuma

(continued in chapter 3)

* * *

Gaku and Yuuma were close.

In fact, the only time Kaito hadn't seen his best friends glued together was when he and Gakupo were in class. Even then, Yuuma was usually waiting outside the lecture hall – which was how he and Kaito had met.

The pair even _shared a house,_ which, in hindsight, was a massive clue, but Kaito had never been any good at picking up on things that should have been obvious. Besides, he rationalized; 95% of _his_ time was spent with them, too. He'd even crashed on their couch the night before, after they had all stayed up late studying.

He'd wondered at the time why Yuuma had apparently passed out in Gaku's room, but now, cowering in the bedroom closet, he was pretty sure he knew the reason.

"Fuck! _Yuuma…"_

Kaito's breath caught at Gaku's gasp of pleasure, feeling the sound go straight to his groin. He clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle himself – the other moving to press against the erection forming between his legs.

It was a well-kept secret that Kaito harbored a deep attraction for his friends. Yuuma for his lithe body and lean muscles that just barely peeked though his tight shirts. Gaku for his electric-blue eyes and velvety-rich voice that practically _dripped_ seduction.

The same voice currently moaning Yuuma's name.

Kaito bit down on his fingers. This wasn't even remotely fair. It was bad enough to crush on not one, but _both_ of his closest friends, only to find out in the worst way possible that they were already dating _each_ _other._ Despair mixed with embarrasment in his gut and joined the sick twist of guilty desire his accidental voyeurism was igniting. He listened as Yuuma growled possessively, eliciting from Gakupo the most sinfully beautiful noise Kaito had ever heard.

His erection throbbed painfully in response and he whimpered against his hand – realizing belatedly just how loud he'd been when everything suddenly went deathly quiet.

"…The hell?"

Terror gripped him. He could only wait, heart pounding, as the closet door swung wide open and a very confused, very _naked_ Yuuma stared in at him.

"…Kaito?"

The dam burst. "I'M SORRY!" Kaito wailed, face burning. "I forgot my scarf this morning but you weren't home yet so I used the spare key to let myself in! Except I couldn't _find_ my scarf so I went looking for it and then you came back and I _panicked!"_

An amused look passed between his friends as the hysterical babbling continued, though Kaito remained completely oblivious. "I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"Wanna join?"

 _That_ stopped him. "I… _what?"_

Gakupo chuckled from over on the bed – looking utterly disheveled and _oh-so_ appealing."I said: do you want to join?"

Kaito just gaped at them both, broken brain unable to comprehend. "I… I-I…"

"For fuck's sake…" Dropping to his knees with a huff, Yuuma slid a warm hand over the bulge in Kaito's pants. "You. Bed." He squeezed gently. "Now."

* * *

Not... reeeeally as happy with this one as I would like to be. I had so much more humor written in, and a bit more situation building that would have made Yuuma and Gaku seem a little less pushy - but alas! I had a shorter word limit on this one and I had to chop nearly half of the drabble away to make it fit.


	2. Life or Death

Disclaimer still applies.

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3am Challenge Day 15  
Prompt: #157 - Life or Death (700 words)  
Song: Last Note. - Akatsuki Arrival (96Neko & KogeInu cover)

Characters: Gakupo, Kaito, unnamed OC

 _Warning for mild, implied homophobia._

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Long fingers tightened their grip on Miburi's hilt. _Kaito,_ he thought, expression hard as he took his place across the way from his opponent. _This is for Kaito._ He flicked cyan-colored eyes over to where his lover stood.

The blue-haired prince gazed back. Kaito's face was a perfect mask of apathy, smooth and lineless, as he watched the combatants settle into their positions on the field. The armored guards on either side of him cast scathing looks his way, but the prince remained still as the grave.

But there was emotion there, if one was looking properly, and Gakupo had spent so many nights memorizing his lover's face that he could easily see the fear and desperate defiance shining just past the prince's seemingly-dead eyes.

Silence fell as the lord of the castle stepped forward, just as grim-face as the rest of his court. When he spoke, his voice carried across the field with all the weight of an approaching thunderstorm – with just as little pity. "The fight will continue until one of you strikes the killing blow," he called. He glared down at the field with an air of utmost disgust. "Kamui Gakupo. As promised, should you be the victor I will allow you to leave with your life. You will be banished from my lands…" and here he gave a sniff, as if suppressing the urge to spit upon the samurai glaring hatefully up at him. "…but you will live."

Gakupo forced himself to keep his voice low, calm, kept himself in check so that he didn't snarl when he spoke. "And what of your other promise? What of Prince Kaito?"

The lord made an unpleasant noise in the back of his throat. "My son is disowned," he sneered, waving a dismissive hand towards Kaito and his guards. "Take him with you into exile, if you must, as he is stripped of his title and all that goes with it."

From the corner of his eye, Gakupo saw Kaito stand just a little straighter, his chin lifting just a bit more as his shoulders squared.

 _My prince. Title or no, he is royalty still…_

"But know this…"

Gakupo tuned his attention back to the lord of the castle, who had suddenly grown a self-satisfied smile across his piggish face.

"Whatever the outcome of this battle, your fate shall be shared between the two of you."

Gakupo's eyes widened. "You would kill your own son!?" he barked, shock and anger pouring into his voice. He broke his glare to turn and stare instead at his lover. Kaito's eyes met his own with a steely resolution.

"I disown him!" the lord spat. "Enough of this! Take your places and begin the fight."

But Gakupo lingered for a moment longer, watching his lover carefully. The prince held his gaze, expression unchanging even now, and gave a single slow, firm nod. Raising his hand to his heart, Kaito tapped the spot twice with two of his fingers. Their sign – their secret gesture.

 _I love you._

And that was all the answer Gakupo needed.

He turned to face his opponent – one of the lord's most brutal warriors – and drew Miburi from her sheath. He would fight as if this were his final battle, as if he had nothing to lose. He would either win to live with Kaito, or he would fall and die beside him. Either way, they could not take his lover from him.

He knew that even if the lord did not keep his word, Kaito would end his own life if it meant he and Gakupo would be together. If it came to it, Gakupo would do the same.

His opponent lunged forward, apparently unable to wait, and Gakupo raised his sword to meet him. He was in no rush; his foe would wear himself down and then Gakupo, with his years of training in patience and watchfulness, would strike him down. If this was to be the Dancing Samurai's last fight, then he would do it with grace and skill.

With his lover's silent words to give him strength, he sliced through his opponent's body at the first misstep, rivulets of red decorating Miburi's blade.

They were free.


	3. Reconstituted Talk

Disclaimer still applies.

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3am Challenge Day 17  
Prompt: #66 - Reconstituted Talk (600 words)  
Song: Giga-P – Persecution Complex Cellphone Girl (Shoose and Giga-P cover)

Characters: Gakupo, Kaito, mentions of VY2 Yuuma

(continued from chapter 1, to be continued in chapter 4)

* * *

Kaito was ignoring him.

Ever since the day before, when he'd unwittingly overheard the more physical side of his friends' relationship and bolted from the house like a half-drowned cat, neither Gakupo nor Yuuma had been able to track Kaito down. They'd tried calling, texting, even venturing out to his dorm, but nothing had worked. It had been well past midnight when they had finally given up.

To say Gaku was surprised to find Kaito in class that next morning was the understatement of the year.

They sat beside each other in silence; Kaito staring resolutely at the front of the lecture hall, Gaku staring nervously at his friend.

The minutes stretched on. Every now and then Gakupo would sneak another look over but each time Kaito adamantly refused to acknowledge his existence. Finally the wall of tension became too much. Gaku flipped though his notebook, ripping out the first clean piece of paper he came to and scribbling hastily before folding it in half. Surreptitiously as possible, he leaned over and dropped it right in front of his friend's nose.

It took a good minute of glaring at the note before Kaito begrudgingly gave in.

 _'Talk to me?'_

He waited with bated breath, fully expecting Kaito to simply crumple the paper up up and go back to ignoring him. Or worse, tell him to fuck off. Just as he was beginning to think he'd made a grim error, Gaku felt something smack against his thigh.

 _'No.'_

His heart sank. He was probably only making the situation worse, he knew, but at this point Gakupo was growing desperate. There was a very real possibility he'd already damaged their friendship beyond repair.

 _'Please? I want to fix this.'_

Hand shaking, Gaku passed the note back over to Kaito, hoping the other would take it.

He did. After a few moments he passed it back.

 _'Why?'_

 _'Because you're my friend!'_ was the immediate response.

Kaito took his time reading – even longer responding – and when he passed the paper back there were several spots where he'd angrily scratched something out.

 _'Then what the hell was yesterday?'_

Gakupo sat for a long time with his head in his hands, reading and rereading the words. Fresh guilt settled in his stomach and crept upward, sending tendrils into his lungs, making it hard to breathe.

 _'I'm sorry. We shouldn't have pushed you.'_

For the first time that morning, Kaito looked at him directly – with a glare so dark that Gaku swore the entire room dimmed a little it its wake.

 _'You're damn right!'_ Kaito scrawled, handwriting suddenly harsh. _'Why the fuck would you even ask me something like that?'_

Gaku hung his head in shame.

 _'I'm so sorry. We just… like you. We thought you liked us the same way, that's why I asked you to join us.'_

Kaito audibly growled, causing Gaku to sink down in his seat.

 _'So you knew I had a crush on you both and decided to blackmail me into sex? Thanks a lot.'_

Gaku blinked, confused. He turned slowly, braving Kaito's fury to gape at him in shock. "…What?" he mouthed.

Kaito made to snatch the note back but Gaku pulled it out of his reach, shaking his head vehemently.

 _'We'd never do that! I asked you to join us because we thought you wouldn't make a move unless we did first. We want to date you. Both of us.'_

The rage slid from Kaito's shoulders like water. Warily, blue eyes slid over to catch Gaku's pleading gaze. "Honest?" he whispered.

Gaku nodded.

"Fine," Kaito sighed. "We'll talk after class."

* * *

*disgruntled noises* Apparently this particular story bit is becoming its own mini-series, since I can never get a prompt with a big enough word limit to actually resolve anything. I'm happier with this one than I am The Closet, at least, but I do intend to continue it further because, eventually, I'm going to get them to all three hook up and be happy.


	4. A Maze

Disclaimer still applies.

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Day 18  
Prompt #185: A Maze (500 words)  
Song: EZFG – Unable to Deceive/"I Can't Do It" Scam

Characters: VY2 Yuuma, mentions of Gakupo and Kaito

(continued from chapter 3, to be continued in chapter ?)

* * *

 _Click-pop-hiss._

 _Click-pop-hiss._

 _Click-pop… click… click…_

"Fuck."

Yuuma sighed, raking a hand down his face as his favorite lighter spluttered and died. He hadn't even had a chance to light a cigarette yet, having adamantly decided not to leave the hallway until Gaku and Kaito's class was over before feeding his nicotine addiction. But the continuous _click-pop-hiss_ of his lighter had always been a source of comfort for him when he was wracked with nervous energy – something he was practically drowning in at the moment.

With one last forlorn look at his lighter, he tucked it back into his pocket and tugged the beanie from his head to ruffle jittery fingers through his hair.

Goddamnit, they'd screwed up.

It was hard sometimes, he mused sardonically, to remember that not everyone had the same level of familiarity that he and Gaku shared. The pair of them had grown up together, started officially dating in high school, and had become so comfortable around one another over the years that it was impossible to recall a time when they hadn't been close. There was never an awkward phase when it came to their relationship, not even when Yuuma nearly botched their first kiss by accidentally mashing their noses together.

But now, with Kaito, Yuuma was beginning to realize the extent of his romantic ineptitude.

He was so used to just _being_ in a relationship that he'd never quite noticed he didn't know how to properly _start_ one – especially when polyamory was thrown into the mix. He and Gakupo had talked about it before, of course; back when they were teenagers they had discussed the possibility of an open relationship and agreed that they were perfectly fine with it so long as everyone involved was consenting. But no one back then had ever really caught their eye and after a few years it became a sort of quiet understanding that they'd only bring in a third if they were both interested in the same person. Again, that hadn't happened.

…Until Kaito.

Kaito had been the first person he and Gaku had ever found themselves attracted to at the same time. With a personality that could brighten even the stormiest of days and a surprisingly sultry side that Yuuma was certain Kaito was unaware of, it had taken less than a month of knowing him before both Yuuma and Gaku were already stepping into "smitten" territory. Six months in, and they were goners.

Kaito had seemed receptive to their subtle flirting, too – it hadn't gone unnoticed the way he kept staring at Yuuma's hips or how his eyes glazed over at the sound of Gaku's laugh. So they'd waited for him to make a move and gently tried to convey their own interest as well.

Except Kaito had never spoken up and now he might not be speaking to them at all.

A sick feeling gnawed at Yuuma's gut and he wished – not for the first time – that he could drag himself away for a smoke.

* * *

So I never did actually finish that daily writing challenge I set out to do last September. But hey! I'm not in the middle of a move this time, and today marks the spot where I paused the challenge last year, so I figured why not finish what I started?

I said this on my AO3 (same author pseud~) but I'll put it here, too: this particular story arch will be continued in another prompt because I want that sweet, sweet happy ending, but on the very real chance that I run out of prompt days to properly wrap this up, I may very well turn this into its own separate fic as well. That way I can flesh it out more and take my time with it.  
More than likely it would only wind up being a few chapters at most, but I would still love to do this budding polyamorous romance a bit more justice.


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